Prenatal Fact Sheet

Language Development:

Social and Cultural Influences on Development:• A social influence on the developing fetus, could be the parents or people around talking and interacting with the fetus. When you play music, talk or sing to the fetus it stimulates the brain, and can make the fetus more active.• A cultural influence could be the different ways a mothers makes their birthing plan. Some women choose to have a natural birth, some choose to have an epidural, some choose a water birth, or other type of home birth. If not done with care all of these different ways to give birth can affect the infant once it is born.

• At 3-4 weeks “a primitive brain and spinal cord appear. Heart, muscles, ribs, backbone, and digestive tract begin to develop”. (Berk, 2013)• At 13-24 weeks “the fetus continues to enlarge rapidly. In the middle of this period, the mother can feel fetal movements. Vernix and lanugo keep the fetus’s skin form chapping in the amniotic fluid. Eyes are sensitive to light, and the fetus reacts to sound”. (Berk, 2013)

Physical Development:

Prenatal Fact Sheet

• If the fetus is not growing at the correct pace, this could be a sign of atypical development.• The mother may develop one of many conditions while pregnant, such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, or even placenta previa. All of these conditions happen during pregnancy, and can affect the growing fetus, cauing abnormal development, pre-term labor, and danger to the mother as well as the fetus.

One strategy for families: When the child is still in the womb, the mother can play classical music (or any type of music really), to stimulate this fetus’ brain.

•At 5-8 weeks “production of neurons begins, occurring at an astonishing pace”. (Berk, 2013)•At 25-38 weeks “rapid brain development causes sensory and behavioral capacities to expand”. (Berk, 2013)

Cognitive Development:

Two signs of Atypical Develpment:

•There is no language development in the prenatal stage